THEODORET (tr. Hill)

(ις) Theodoret [PG 81:1152CD]: He expresses it all figuratively: You priests take for yourselves the first-fruits, the tithes and the parts of the victims that are dedicated; and you kings are not satisfied with the receipt of tribute and taxes, but kill the affluent and take their wealth for yourselves, and yet neither your priests nor you give attention to care of the sheep.

(ιζ) Theodoret [PG 81:1153A]: it is not only that you have failed to provide the proper treatment to the ailing, but also that you have taken much trouble with the healthy. It is easy to discern this also in the historical accounts: the evil shepherds were unwilling to heal the people who worshiped idols and lived lawless lives, and turn them back to God, whereas they abused and restrained the divine prophets who possessed the power of virtue, continued to subject them to countless trials...

(ιη) Theodoret [PG 81:1153B]: Again he referred figuratively to wild beasts, since by the same token he spoke also of the sheep. By spiritual wild beasts he refers to the demons, destroyers of souls, and by material ones to the enemy attacking them from all sides.

([ιθ]) Theodoret [PG 81:1153BC]: By mountains and hills and everything else that he said he referred to the worship of the idols conducted on them: on mountains and crests and on every spot they had built the idols shrines with no resistance to their impiety from kings or even priests--hence his saying and there was no one to go after them or turn them back. After having leveled the charge in these terms, he threatens the shepherds with punishment, saying, Since my sheep have become the prey of wild animals through your indifference and negligence, and received no attention or care from you, your interest being solely in your own satisfaction and bodily welfare...

([κ]) Theodoret [PG 81:1153D-1156A]: In these words he indicated ahead of time the end both of the kingdom of the Jews and of the priesthood: I shall liberate my sheep from their evil governance, he says, since they accorded them no care and only kept consuming them. He then promises salvation through our Lord and savior.

(κα) Theodoret [PG 81:1156AB]: By cloud and gloom here he referred to the darkness of ignorance which shrouded the world before the Incarnation of our God and savior. So he means, Like a diligent shepherd taking especial care of his own sheep when he notices a mist falling which encourages security in both wolves and thieves, I too will be on the watch for my sheep...

(~)At bottom of page, anchored to vs. 12 ἀπελάσω: Theodoret [PG 81:1156Β]: This is the Church ^, assembled from Jews and Gentiles.

(κγ) Theodoret [PG 81:1156C]: Good pasture [or rather, "law" (νόμος), with word-play on "pasture" (νομός / νομή)] indeed, and according to the apostle a holy commandment, righteous and good, and he promises them a different pasture, as it was a legal one they had. Now, what is this good pasture as distinct from the legal one? Is it not clear that he is hinting at the teaching of the divine Gospels, in which Gods sheep put out to pasture are given food and drink, and enjoy salvation?

([κγ]) τοῦ αὐτοῦ (Theodoret) [PG 81:1156D-1157A]: He mentioned many mountains and valleys, and made particular mention of a certain high mountain on which he predicts the future charm of those grazing. These mountains blessed David also mentions, "Mountain of God, rich mountain"...to Israels mountains...

(κε) Theodoret [PG 81:1157B]: So here, too, he referred to the high and visible mountain of Gospel teaching, on which he promised there would be the charm of the sheep.

(κζ) Theodoret [PG 81:1157B]: This is clearly applicable to us, but not to Jews: they had a single stable, the Temple in Jerusalem, whereas throughout the whole world we have churches beyond counting.

(κη) Theodoret [PG 81:1157BC]: By rich and tasty good things he refers to the divine sayings ("Delight in the Lord," Scripture says, remember, "and he will grant you your hearts desire"), and by mountains of Israel to the inspired books on which we in turn graze, finding in them an ascent to the highest mountain: through the inspired oracles we are led to the Gospel teaching to which they testify. But we have the shepherd in person in the Master and Lord who cries aloud, "I am the good shepherd."

(κθ) Theodoret [PG 81:1157C]: shepherded by him and resting on his teaching as though on a kind of grass, we shall acknowledge his lordship.

(λ) Theodoret [PG 81:1157D]: like Paul and those of his kind.

(λα) τοῦ αὐτοῦ (Theodoret) [PG 81:1157D]: like the tax collector, the prostitute, the brigand and those of that kind.

(λβ) τοῦ αὐτοῦ (Theodoret) [PG 81:1157D]: like Peter in his denial.

(λγ) τοῦ αὐτοῦ (Theodoret) [PG 81:1157D]: like the holy apostles and those who have chosen a life like them.

(λδ) τοῦ αὐτοῦ (Theodoret) [PG 81:1160A]: Having thus completed the treatment of the wicked shepherds and the prophecy of the care that would be given by him, he shifts his attention to the sheep, explaining that the impropriety of the shepherds does not provide an excuse for the sheep: the sheep are rational, possess judgment, and are capable of shunning evil and opting for the good.

(λε) τοῦ αὐτοῦ (Theodoret) [PG 81:1160A]: just as I judge shepherds and sheep, so I shall be judge also of the sheep and punish the wrongdoers.

(λς) Theodoret [PG 81:1160B]: The question is directed to the affluent who abuse their wealth to the point of wastefulness and gain from it not only what is necessary but even what is beyond the necessary.

(λζ) Theodoret [PG 81:1160BC]: Now, the phrase trampling down the rest with your feet referred figuratively to sheep eating grass and trampling what was left, and first drinking the water and then muddying it with their feet.

(λη) τοῦ αὐτοῦ (Theodoret) [PG 81:1160C]: he mentions the impudence of the strong ones.

(λθ) τοῦ αὐτοῦ (Theodoret) [PG 81:1160CD]: He said everything in reference to sheep--shoulders, horns, sides--in everything censuring the unjust influence of those in power. But he promises safety for the sheep.

(μ) τοῦ αὐτοῦ (Theodoret) [PG 81:1160D-1161A]: I shall give judgment and not neglect the wronged; rather, I shall call the wrongdoers to account. Then the promise of the salvation of all in common.

(μα) Theodoret [PG 81:1161AB]: After saying above I shall shepherd them, here he says David will be their shepherd, whom he also calls his servant. Now, who is this? Surely it is clear that it is Christ the Lord, sprung from the seed of David according to the flesh? Hence he is also servant in being human, and this in keeping with his nature, not his status: if those believing in him are not servants but sons, much more is he no slave but son, since it is through him that the servants received freedom. Similarly blessed Paul also says, "He was in the form of God, and did not consider being equal with God robbery, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant."

(μα) τοῦ αὐτοῦ (Theodoret) [PG 81:1161D (out of sequence)]: one person is shepherd both of those who have come to faith from nations and those from Jews.

(μβ) τοῦ αὐτοῦ (Theodoret) [PG 81:1161C]: And he brings out the reliability of what was said in what follows, I the Lord have spoken: the status of the speaker suffices as confirmation of the words.

(μδ) Theodoret [PG 81:1161CD]: Paul gives commentary on this, shouting aloud with Christ, "He is our peace, who made the two into one, and broke down the dividing barrier."

(με) τοῦ αὐτοῦ (Theodoret) [PG 81:1161D-1164A]: the masses of the malicious demons and people afflicted with savagery, some by undergoing change, being made rational and completely freed from being savage, others by meeting an end in death.

(μς) τοῦ αὐτοῦ (Theodoret) [PG 81:1164AB]: Of that kind were the teachings of the apostles, offering the souls of the believers showers full of blessings.

(μζ) τοῦ αὐτοῦ (Theodoret) [PG 81:1164B]: both those earthbound in soul--that is, those coming from the nations--and Jews, who are unproductive like wild trees, will come to faith, receive such irrigation, and yield me the fruit of devotion.

(μη) τοῦ αὐτοῦ (Theodoret) [PG 81:1164BC]: He said, not "in peace," but in the hope of peace: to those believing in him the Lord said, "In the world you have tribulation, but have confidence, I have overcome the world"; and the divine apostle says, "We were saved by hope. Now, hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what is seen? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience."

(μθ) Theodoret [PG 81:1164D]: He already remarks that the prophecy is at two levels, one applicable to Jews themselves, the other to all people: he freed Jews from the captivity of Babylonians, and liberated all of us from the tyranny of the devil.

(νβ) Theodoret [PG 81:1165A]: It is better to hope in the Lord than in man; the one with his hope cries aloud, "All the nations surrounded me, and in the Lords name I took vengeance on them."

(νγ) τοῦ αὐτοῦ (Theodoret) [PG 81:1165AB]: ^ Isaiah also predicts this, "A branch will go out of the root of Jesse, a flower will spring up from the root, and a spirit of God will rest upon him" and so on; and again, "There will be the root of Jesse, and the one rising up to rule nations; in him nations will hope, and his repose will be honor." ^^ And again, that is, noteworthy, famous, celebrated. Perhaps, on the other hand, the phrase suggests something else as well, that from the plant they will take the name--that is, all devout people are called Christians after Christ.

(νδ) Theodoret [PG 81:1165B]: That is, the devout: they were very few before the coming of Christ.

(νε) τοῦ αὐτοῦ (Theodoret) [PG 81:1165C]: they will enjoy spiritual nourishment (by hunger here referring to the deprivation of the word, which God threatened through the prophet, "I shall inflict not a hunger for bread, nor a thirst for water, but a hunger for hearing the word of the Lord."

(νς) τοῦ αὐτοῦ (Theodoret) [PG 81:1165CD]: This in turn applies both to us and to Jews: we have grown to a great number, filling the world, and are no longer reproached by those continuing in irreligion, but are rather the object of envy and jealousy; and Jews after the return from Babylon, freed from captivity, recovered their own way of thinking.

(νη) Theodoret [PG 81:1168A]: to show that the verse addresses not only Israel but the whole of humankind, he necessarily proceeds...